Writing --- Reading & Everything In -Between

Thursday, January 30, 2014

STAY MOTIVATED - MIMI’S STORY

Image Courtesy of Stuart Miles/ freedigitalphotos
Still talking about staying motivated, you need more than Willpower, you need a strong motivation.
What is motivating you to do what you do?
If you want to write a book; why?
If you want to go to school; why?
If you want to get married; why?
You should not decide to do something because others are doing it, you need a stronger motive than that or you will quit before you finish.
 Mimi is a dietician. About seven years ago, she told me of her desire to write a book on Healthy Eating. I asked her why and she said she wanted to be a successful author.
 Do you think her motive was vague and weak?
She started with so much zeal, and wrote the drafts for five chapters in a week. Then she met Paul and this hot romance started. She soon put the desire to be a successful author on the back burner. For two years, her job at a high profile hospital and her love life with Paul were enough to make her forget her goal.
What happened to her aspiration to become a successful author? 
The affair broke up and she was devastated especially by the fact that Paul left her for a well-known former beauty queen. That dealt a fatal blow on her self-esteem. When she recovered, the desire to be that successful author came back with full force.
Why did the desire return with a vengeance?
How long can the steam last? 
At an amazing speed, she finished the first draft of the book and sent it to me for editing. Her goal was to get the book published in a month. I was so busy then I didn’t have time to see her manuscripts and she harassed me so well I had no choice but to leave every other thing to look at her job. I made some corrections and observations, sent it to her, expecting to get it back in a few days. But it didn’t come. Two weeks later, I called her and was surprised at her response.
She and Paul had reconciled and she had been too busy to see the manuscripts.
Why and how did her desire evaporate so fast? 
Four years and two kids later, a sack letter and divorce papers from Paul, Mimi became a shadow of her former self.
Faced with raising her two kids alone, no paid employment and not only a broken heart but a shattered self-image, Mimi had a strong need to pursue her abandoned dream of writing a book.
She had converted the ground floor of her duplex to a Clinic and started a private practice as a Nutrition Specialist.
As her clientele increased, she found it necessary to finish her book to help her patients and others gain necessary knowledge on healthy living. 
How would you compare this motive with to the first one? 
So, she updated the book and within a few months published it. It was an instant success. She started a blog on Healthy Living that soon began to thrive. This increased her clientele. She wrote two other books within a year and became a co-host for a television health show.
What motivated Mimi to eventually realize her desire to be a successful author? 
What motivates you to do something is what keeps your Willpower on. The stronger your motive and desire, the stronger your Willpower.
The first assignment we have this year in my Writing Group is to purify our motives by making it clear, personal, purpose-driven and value-adding.
I will talk more about this next.
In the meantime, why don't you work on purifying your motives for some of your goals.

Enjoy God’s Exceeding Grace

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